QB coach leaves CSU, is expected to join Florida State staff

Jan. 13, 2013

Written by

Billy Napier, the former Clemson offensive coordinator who served as CSU’s assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach, is leaving after just one season, coach Jim McElwain said Saturday.

Napier, 32, is expected to join coach Jimbo Fisher’s staff at Florida State, according to several online reports, although his hiring has not yet been confirmed by the Seminoles.

“Billy Napier did a great job for us,” McElwain said through a school spokesman. “It was a hard decision for him to leave, but I’m happy for Billy to be able to get his family back to the South, where his wife and young child can be near both sets of grandparents. That support system is so important in our profession.”

Napier is a Tennessee native who grew up in Georgia and played college football at Furman in South Carolina, where he was a quarterback from 1999-2002. He and his wife, Ali, had their first child last June.

McElwain said interest in filling Napier’s spot on Colorado State University’s staff has been “overwhelming and flattering,” with a number of coaches from major-college program and NFL teams expressing interest.

“The word is clearly out in our industry that Colorado State is a big-time place to be, and this is a big-time position,” McElwain said. “From the president our university, to the athletic director and through the football program, people can see what great things are going on here and what we are doing to achieve excellence.”

“ ... The important thing for us is to get the right fit from among the top-notch pool of candidates that is emerging. I want to find the right person, who is eager to be a Ram, to fit in the community and who will help us achieve the excellence that we envision here at CSU.”

Tomahawk Nation, a website for Florida State fans, reported that Napier would be hired as either the quarterbacks coach or tight ends coach at Florida State. His duties also could include recruiting coordinator or offensive coordinator, depending on how Fisher puts together his staff after losing several assistants from this year’s 12-2 team that won the Atlantic Coast Conference title and beat Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl.

(Page 2 of 2)

Napier was the recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach in 2007-08 and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Clemson in 2009-10. He served as an offensive quality control assistant in 2011 at Alabama under McElwain, who was the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator at the time, before coming to CSU with McElwain a year ago.

FootballScoop.com reported that the Seminoles also are hiring Randy Sanders, who has been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kentucky for the past three seasons.

James Coley, the offensive coordinator for the past three seasons and tight ends coach for the past five at Florida State, has been mentioned as a candidate for several other jobs. Dameyune Craig, Florida State’s quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for the past three seasons, was hired Friday as the co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach at Auburn by new coach Gus Malzahn.

Florida State announced the hiring Friday of Charles Kelly, a Georgia Tech assistant since 2006, as its linebackers coach and special-teams coordinator but has not yet announced any changes to its offensive coaching staff.